CITY ABATTOIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 24, 29 January 1904, Page 4

CITY ABATTOIRS.

Tho question of providing abattoirs for the city wan brought up at last night's meeting of tho City Council after a long aileiico of two yenis. The responsibility for this delay must rest with tho Minister for Agriculture, who lnid down conditions that ' the Council could not hnvo accepted, in face of the facts in its possession and itg duty to tho ratepayers. Wo do not desire to refer to the history of tho negotiations, extending over months, which took place between tho Abattoirs CommitU'o and tho Minister on tho ouo hand, and tho butchers on the other. All this had better be buried, miles* tho same tactics aro repeated. Should such tactics bo renewed, we shall consider it to bo our duty in the interest of the public to givo the whole history of these negotiations. Tho Council at its lust meeting roaflirmed tho necessity for an abattoir, and the old committee which hud tho matter in band was empowered to givo effect to the resolution ol tho Council. All tho data necessary aro nlicady in its possession, the one question to be. decided is tho location of the site, and wo understand that tho committee will proceed at onco to consider the availablo sites, so as to bring down a definite recommendation, at tut next meeting o/ tho Council. The establishment of an abattoir is ono of tho most urgent works that should be undertaken. Both from tho point of view of public health, as well as from the point of view of the butchers interested, it is of the utmost importance that no time Bhould bo lost. When wo remember that between one-third and one-half of the meat consumed in the city is nut inspected,, it will at onco bo seen how urgent tho matter is. This is intensified by tho fact that some of tho slaughterhouses have been condemned as insanitary, and totally unfit for the purpose. Tho butchers, if compelled to erect new and up-to-date slaughterhouses under present conditions, would bo subjected to very great hardship**, because when nn abattoir is established they would havo no grounds for compensation. The alternatives, it would eeem, aro tho gradual elimination of the small butcher and tho establishment of a closo monopoly in the meat trade, or tho immediato establishment of an abattoir. In tho face of such considerations, wo hope that tho Abattoirs Committee will take the matter in hand with vigour, and should tho snmo diftieulties oriso that blocked their effort* in the past that tho public will back tlwm up with that enthusiasm which will compel the "powers that be" to treat their domaiids with reason and justice.

The apparent imminence of wnr in the Far East during tho lust few weeks brings before us the importance of naval power with a vividness not to bn mistaken. For, though in a conllict in tho Far East many things are doubtful, this at least in certain, that boa ! power would bo the decisive factor. Nor can wo in Now Zealand fail to feel that in such a, contest our own interests may be deeply concerned. The stako for which tho wholly Asiatic power of Japan and the halt-Asiatic power of Russia alike contend is tho hegemony of tho four hunded millions of human beings who mßabit China, and whoever gains that prize will have mude a vast stride forward towards tho eventual mastery of the Piu'ifio. Tho British communities of tho Southern Hemisphere cuunot watch unmoved the progress of events -which may iniluenco their own destinies. Already from Vladivoslock and from Port Arthur and Dalny, as also from tho ports of Japan, tho shadow of future menuce is Hung largo across tho intervening seas towards tho immense uninhabited shores of a great part of the Australian Continent, while every year tho oceans that once severed mankind into fragments by distances taking many months to traverse shrivel up aa iuvention is applied to communication and abolishes space. Tfc is a. safe prophecy that within ten years' time tho speeds now achieved on the Atlantic by Cunarders and vessels of the Nord-Deutscber Lloyd \\ ill bo the common puce of steamoi^ trading to Australasian shores. It Beems'certain that every year will witness an advanco in tho means of economising fuol and of applying energy to work. And every such'improvement means tin- increase of the radiuß of action of ships of war. and therefore -an increase also in the already tremendous effect of naval strength. These considerations lead to tho infereuco Uiat tho future of tho British people depands on their maintenance) of command, of th« sea, At tho special genevul

meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, to which the public, women as well as men, ore invited this evening, to hear the message from tho Navy League of England on this great subject brought by their envoy, Mr. H. F. Wyatt, those picsent will have an excellent opportunity of considering whether the city shall support the aims of the Navy League, as have Auokland, and the chief centres of population in Canada and Australia.

Amid the usual budget of news of war ptcpaiiilions conies this morning a message of peace, which, if conliuned, will biing rejoicing to the people of two nalions, and v piofouud «en&e of relief to other Powers, including Britain, which have been watching the situation in the Far East with intense anxiety, not knowing how hoon they may find themselves involved in a disastrous war. Admiral Alexicff, it is said, has received a long^ despatch fioni St. Petersburg, enjoining him to grant Japan's demands. Jf this report were, like a good deal of tho so-called news | from Ifcistcm centres, founded on rumours from the native ba/.jnrs, or the irresponsible gossip of the European quailers, it might bo put aside as not worth consideration, ana quite insufficient to shake Iho s>tong evidence pointing to war. But the authority for the statement is tho Port Arthur correspondent of the New York llorald, a journal whose energetic proprietor, Mr. Gordon Bennett, has alwa\s taken pains to secure as foreign lopretentutivos men who ore specially qualified for the oflice. -sTho&e in their turn have never allowed labour, expehsi, or even personal danger to stand in the way of their obtaining early and exclusive information. There is, therefore, a strong probability of the report being well founded, in which case the correspondent will earn much praise for his activity. In the ordinary course the Tsar's commands should be acted upon by tho Viceroy in a day or two, when Iho terms of the settlement, if one has actually been arrived at, will doubtloss be made public from Tokio. Meanwhile matters will be in a state of suspense, and it would be premature- to speculate on the future of the countries affected by the dispute.